stepheuniie
In the Brooder
- Jul 1, 2021
- 9
- 2
- 11
Hi everyone!
I've learned a lot about raising my chicks here, but this is my first time posting a question
We're currently at day 22 of incubation, with only 2 eggs in the incubator. We only put two as a "test" to see if our young silkie couple had started mating because we still struggle to candle eggs before they spent a couple of days in the incubator and veins are finally showing. But our couple got killed by a raccoon on day 3 of this incubation test (
) and the eggs were fertilized so we continued the incubation. At the last candling before lockdown, we observed that one of the chicks seemed "less developed" than the other one. I don't think it was dead, as we could see veins and no blood ring, but it seemed more like a "day 15-16" chick while the other one was fully developed.
Right now, only one of the chicks has hatched, the fully developed one. Still no pip on the other one. The little one is struggling to understand how to eat and drink by itself, and of course, it must be super lonely, though we are really giving it all the attention and care we can.
Is there a chance that the other one will just hatch "late" as it was not as developed? We had chicks hatching on day 23-24, but they always seem as developed as the other ones. Is it possible that the two chicks didn't develop at the same rate? Or was it just already dead and we did not see it?
Also, we know that chicks are not supposed to be alone, so we're thinking about getting another one in case the other chick doesn't hatch. Should we get a chick of the same age? It's a silkie so it's pretty small, we don't want to get a bigger one that would attack it. We never had to combine chicks that were not from the same hatching batch so we're a little worried about them not getting along, as is often the case with hens.
Can't wait to hear back from you!
I've learned a lot about raising my chicks here, but this is my first time posting a question
We're currently at day 22 of incubation, with only 2 eggs in the incubator. We only put two as a "test" to see if our young silkie couple had started mating because we still struggle to candle eggs before they spent a couple of days in the incubator and veins are finally showing. But our couple got killed by a raccoon on day 3 of this incubation test (
) and the eggs were fertilized so we continued the incubation. At the last candling before lockdown, we observed that one of the chicks seemed "less developed" than the other one. I don't think it was dead, as we could see veins and no blood ring, but it seemed more like a "day 15-16" chick while the other one was fully developed.Right now, only one of the chicks has hatched, the fully developed one. Still no pip on the other one. The little one is struggling to understand how to eat and drink by itself, and of course, it must be super lonely, though we are really giving it all the attention and care we can.
Is there a chance that the other one will just hatch "late" as it was not as developed? We had chicks hatching on day 23-24, but they always seem as developed as the other ones. Is it possible that the two chicks didn't develop at the same rate? Or was it just already dead and we did not see it?
Also, we know that chicks are not supposed to be alone, so we're thinking about getting another one in case the other chick doesn't hatch. Should we get a chick of the same age? It's a silkie so it's pretty small, we don't want to get a bigger one that would attack it. We never had to combine chicks that were not from the same hatching batch so we're a little worried about them not getting along, as is often the case with hens.
Can't wait to hear back from you!
I'd provide a mirror for company until it is determined whether or not the second egg will hatch. If it does not hatch, I would buy at least two chicks for company.
